NLCS: Game 2 @ Arizona

[riverside sluggers]

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20071007/capt.e669929d955c4dbb9d45df844ae1476c.phillies_rockies_baseball_dxf125.jpg

Ubaldo Jimenez

 

Vs

 

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20071005/capt.24113dd19edd433dbcf0bb59665aad4f.cubs_diamondbacks_baseball_azmy102.jpg

Doug Davis

 

Colorado (90-73) at Arizona (90-72)

 

The first NL championship series game in Colorado Rockies' history ended like nearly every other contest they've played in the past three weeks - with a win. After taking away Arizona's home-field advantage, the Rockies look to grab a 2-0 lead over the Diamondbacks when they meet in Game 2 of the NLCS on Friday night at Chase Field.

 

With both teams having swept their respective NL division series matchups, Colorado kept its momentum going with a 5-1 victory on Thursday. The Rockies, who beat San Diego in a one-game playoff to reach the postseason before sweeping Philadelphia, have won 18 of their last 19 games.

 

"As soon as I stepped on the field, I'm sure I speak for everybody else, you had butterflies," said Brad Hawpe, whose bases-loaded single with two outs brought home two runs in the Rockies' three-run third and gave them a 4-1 lead. "It was an emotional, high-energy day for all of us. "We weren't in the flow of it like we had been. So you know today's win, I think, is even more special because of that." The Rockies' lone loss during their run came on Sept. 28 to Arizona and ace Brandon Webb, who took the mound in Game 1.

 

Colorado scored four runs off the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, and Kaz Matsui broke a 1-all tie with a RBI single in the third, scoring Willy Taveras - a surprise addition to the postseason roster after missing nearly a month with a thigh injury. Matsui, who was dropped to second in the batting order behind the speedy Taveras, has a team-high seven RBIs in the postseason. Leading 5-1 in the seventh, the Rockies survived a threat. With runners at runners on first and second with no outs, Arizona's Augie Ojeda hit a bouncer to third baseman Garrett Atkins, who threw to Matsui covering second.

 

The Diamondbacks' Justin Upton, running from first base, rolled his shoulder into Matsui preventing a throw. Upton was called out for interference, resulting in a double play. "It looked like a good, aggressive slide going in, and I thought he went out of his way to make contact," said Colorado manger Clint Hurdle, who pulled his team off the field as fans littered it with debris in protest, resulting in an eight-minute delay.

 

To try and move Colorado a step closer to its first pennant, rookie Ubaldo Jimenez will try to put together another strong performance. Jimenez was 4-4 with a 4.28 ERA in the regular season after being recalled on July 17. Although he has not factored in each of his last two starts, the 23-year-old has played a huge role nonetheless.

 

On Sept. 30, Jimenez allowed one run, one hit and struck out a career-high 10 in 6 1-3 innings of a 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks that helped force the one-game playoff versus the Padres. His first postseason start came last Friday, and the right-hander yielded one run and three hits in 6 1-3 innings of a 2-1 series-clinching victory over Philadelphia. Jimenez said his the reasons for his recent success were simple.

 

"Just being able to stay back and just focus on the catcher's mitt, just trying to throw the ball low in the strike zone. Don't try to strike everybody out," he said. In Jimenez's only other start against Arizona on Aug. 31, he gave up three runs, three hits and struck out six in 6 2-3 innings, but didn't factor in Colorado's 7-3 win in 10 innings.

 

The Rockies finished the NLCS opener with just eight singles, marking the first time this season they won without getting an extra-base hit. Colorado's power hitters - Todd Helton, Garrett Atkins and MVP candidate Matt Holliday - are batting a combined .208 (10-for-48) with four RBIs in the playoffs, but have had success against Doug Davis, Arizona's starter in Game 2. Holliday is 4-for-8 with a double lifetime against Davis, while Helton is 5-for-9 with a homer. Atkins is also 5-for-9 with a double against the left-hander.

 

Davis won a career-high 13 games, but also tied a career-worst with 12 losses and finished with a 4.25 ERA in his first season with Arizona. He also struggled in his first postseason start despite earning the victory. Facing the Chicago Cubs on Oct. 4 in Game 2 of the NLDS , Davis gave up four runs, five hits, walked four and struck out eight in 5 2-3 innings of an 8-4 win.

 

Arizona hasn't lost consecutive home games in a single series since Aug. 20-21 against Milwaukee, and has been outstanding with Davis on the mound in Phoenix. Including his playoff win over the Cubs, he's 9-3 with a 4.84 ERA in 18 home starts with the Diamondbacks winning 15 of those games. In two home starts against Colorado this season, Davis is 1-1, allowing six runs in 12 innings. He is 1-2 with a 3.18 ERA in three starts against the Rockies this season, and is 2-3 with a 3.00 ERA in five career starts against them.

 

After scoring 16 runs in sweeping Chicago in the NLDS, the Diamondbacks left eight runners on base and grounded into three double plays the NLCS opener. Eric Byrnes, who batted .250 (3-for-12) against the Cubs, was 2-for-4 and drove in Arizona's lone run.

[See Red]

Rockies will push their streak to 19 of 20 tonight.

[Rodney Harrison]

Tony Clark with an unassisted DP.

 

0-0, bottom of the 1st.

[See Red]

Tulo is absolutely incredible. What an arm the kid has.

[riverside sluggers]

Ubaldo Jimenez (**3 games vs Arizona, 2.77 ERA---**Career at Chase Field in 2 games, 3.21 ERA)

Chris Young, 2 for 5 (.400 avg) Double, RBI, Walk, 2 Ks

Stephen Drew, 1 for 7 (.143 avg) 2 Walks, K

Eric Byrnes, 0 for 6, K

Tony Clark, 2 for 6 (.333 avg) Double, Walk, 3 Ks

Mark Reynolds, 0 for 8, 4 Ks

Jeff Salazar, 0 for 3, 2 Walks, 2 Ks, 2 SBs

Chris Snyder, 1 for 1 (1.000 avg) Walk

Augie Ojeda, 0 for 2, 2 Ks

Doug Davis, 1 for 1 (1.000 avg) Double

///

Alberto Callapso, 1 for 3 (.333 avg) SB

Conor Jackson, 0 for 2

Miguel Montero, 1 for 5 (.200 avg) HR, 3 RBIs, Walk, K

Justin Upton, 0 for 2, K, SB

 

Doug Davis (**6 games vs Colorado, 2-3 with a 2.83 ERA---**Career at Chase Field in 23 games, 9-3 with a 4.28 ERA)

Willy Taveras, 7 for 20 (.350 avg) 3 Doubles, Triple, 4 RBIs, 2 Walks, 4 Ks

Kazuo Matsui, 3 for 8 (.375 avg) 3 Walks, K

Matt Holliday, 4 for 11 (.364 avg) Double, RBI, 2 Walks, 2 Ks

Todd Helton, 5 for 11 (.455 avg) HR, 4 RBIs, 3 Walks, K

Garrett Atkins, 6 for 12 (.500 avg) Double, RBI, 2 Ks

Troy Tulowitzki, 2 for 10 (.200 avg) 2 Walks, 3 Ks

Brad Hawpe, 1 for 3 (.333 avg) 2 Walks, K

Yorvit Torrealba, 4 for 13 (.308 avg) Double, RBI, 4 Walks, 3 Ks

Ubaldo Jimenez, 0 for 2, 2 Ks

///

Jeff Baker, 0 for 5, Walk, K

Jamey Carroll, 4 for 10 (.400 avg) Double, 4 Walks, 3 Ks

Ryan Spilborghs, 2 for 4 (.500 avg) Double, 2 RBIs

 

**Jimenez this season on the road in 7 games, 1-1 with a 4.61 ERA

 

**Davis this season vs Colorado in 4 games, 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA. **At home in 19 games, 9-3 with a 4.62 ERA

[Mr Crunchy]

tuff to like zona with tnt tony clark so high in the order

6 years ago he couldnt hit a hr if he hit it twice and he was dealing in mendoza like batting avg....in zona 6 years later this 55 year old man is hitting cleanup

[Rodney Harrison]

Ubaldo is dealing tonight.

 

Rockies just might win it all.

[Mr Crunchy]

if they sweep here i got a hard time laying money against them

[Rodney Harrison]

Torrealba with an RBI single.

 

1-0 Rockies.

 

Doug Davis has thrown 46 pitches and only gotten five outs.

[ORS]

If you ask me who I want to win this series, my heart will answer Colorado. My head says go D-Backs. Given a choice, I want no part of the Rox if the Sox advance. That said, we are playing as well as we have been all season, so I fear no team.

[Rodney Harrison]

Ubaldo strikes out, but the damage has been done anyway

 

1-0 Rockies headed to the bottom of the 2nd.

 

I saw on ESPN yesterday that only the 1998 Braves and the 1974 Orioles had a better 18-game stretch headed into the LCS than the 2007 Rockies. Except the Braves and Orioles both lost their LCS (to the Padres and A's, respectively).

[Mr Crunchy]

zona gotta bunt there for the 1 run

theyre not good enuff to slug away

[Rodney Harrison]

Mark Reynolds had horrible plate discipline.

 

Like I said, the Rockies just might win it all.

[See Red]

Mark Reynolds had horrible plate discipline.

 

Like I said, the Rockies just might win it all.

 

It's entirely possible. I would be very happy for the team if they did, but I'd still be extremely disappointed as a Sox fan, which is who I would cheer for. I'd also hate knowing all these bandwagoners in Colorado are taking so much pride in a team that, two months ago when I moved from there, nobody out there even wanted to acknowledge that this franchise existed.

[ORS]

Baldy has some killer stuff. Doesn't look like he has any idea where it's going, but it's impressive.

[Rodney Harrison]

Ubaldo has just struck out the side. The Rockies are unstoppable.

[Mr Crunchy]

MLB

MLB

PARLAY (2 TEAMS)

[956] BOS RED SOX ML-158 ( ACTION )

[953] COL ROCKIES ML-112 ( ACTION )

 

100.00 / 209.00

 

sox and rox payoff at 2-1 and thats with becks being a large favorite over their 1

[Rodney Harrison]

Maybe the DBacks could have gotten a few pointers on advancing runners from the Rockies...

[ORS]

It's a shame the Cubbies dicked the dog against the D-Backs, because they are one of the bigger smoke and mirror teams I've seen in the postseason for a while. For f***s sake, they allowed more runs than they scored for the season. What do they do particularly well? Outside of Young, Webb, and the BP, the answer is not much. I suppose they pick it pretty well. I think the Cubs could hang with the Rox, but this is looking like a huge overmatch.

[Rodney Harrison]

It's a shame the Cubbies dicked the dog against the D-Backs' date=' because they are one of the bigger smoke and mirror teams I've seen in the postseason for a while. For f***s sake, they allowed more runs than they scored for the season. What do they do particularly well? Outside of Young, Webb, and the BP, the answer is not much. I suppose they pick it pretty well. I think the Cubs could hang with the Rox, but this is looking like a huge overmatch.[/quote']

 

And even then, Young isn't all that impressive save for his power numbers. He hit .237/.295/.467 with 32 HR and 68 RBI and an 88 OPS+. He also struck out 141 times. Arizona is greatly overrated, and it's a shame the Cubs rolled over and died against them.

[See Red]

Wow, Yorvit. How the f*** did he stop that?

[ORS]

I question the defensive alignment there. Sure he's a pitcher, but anyone can put one out there. Playing him deeper allows the soft single, but prevents the double. In a tight affair, I prefer to avoid leadoff XBH's.

[See Red]

Yeah, I would agree. I really don't like that, and now you've got a tie game because of it.

[Rodney Harrison]

Speak of the devil. Chris Young ties the game with an RBI single.

[See Red]

Bad call, me thinks.

 

Very bad call.

 

Upon further review... fantastic call!

 

Watch out for the bottles...

[ORS]

Looked safe at first......and he was...oops got the foot not the bag.

[Rodney Harrison]

It was better than last night's interference call.

[ORS]

Fantastic play by Atkins.

[Rodney Harrison]

Nice way for Ubaldo to get out of the "jam."

[Mr Crunchy]

pinella is staring zambrano in game 4.....f***ing idiot cost them game 1 at hoime and took their souls that veru moment

speaks volimes about the cubs character though

folding like tents in the slightest adversity